With modern IndyCars, even the strongest drivers would have serious difficulty keeping their head upright without assistance. As the brakes are both needed less and the car is regularly traveling at a higher speed, the brake ducts are narrower compared to those of a road racing setup. This is because to get the carbon rotors to work effectively, they need to be kept within a narrow temperature range. All the air traveling through the ducts at those speeds can over-cool the brakes, so the ducts must be kept relatively small so the brakes stay warm enough.
Whereas a road course setup has to accomodate for a variety of corners and some leeway is given, the corners on an oval are all taken at roughly the same speed, and so the window narrows. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Email us - [email protected]. Terms Classifieds Privacy. About Tommy Parry Articles.
Tommy Parry has been racing and writing about racing cars for the past seven years. As an automotive enthusiast from a young age, Tommy worked jobs revolving around cars throughout high school and tried his hand on the race track on his twentieth birthday.
After winning his first outdoor kart race, he began working as an apprentice mechanic to amateur racers in the Bay Area to sharpen his mechanical understanding.
He has worked as a trackday instructor and automotive writer since and continues to race karts, formula cars, sedans and rally cars in the San Francisco region. Previous article.
Cure the entry before worrying too much about the middle and start over if any adjustment affects a preceding area of the corner. Cars that are loose on entry nearly always push in the middle as the driver simply is unable to aggressively turn the steering wheel at the right time.
Basically, a loose entry causes the driver to miss the entire turn. There is no point making changes that deal with the middle when the car is loose in. Cars that push in the middle of the turn are very likely to be loose on corner exit. The angular momentum of the car is upset and the car travels off the exit on the wrong line due to the push in the middle. The car pushes and moves up. On exit the car runs out of room in the groove and often becomes loose on the late exit as the driver overturns to avoid contact with the wall.
Many times when you loosen the car up to get a better run through the middle it will hook up better on exit. A car that is loose on corner entry should be cured at all costs. A car that is loose on entry is uncomfortable for the driver and is very difficult to drive. The driver really has no way to adapt his line for a loose entry problem. Basically, the driver just has to slow down and ride.
Cars that are loose on entry make for a long day. If the car is tight in the middle the driver can adjust his line and improve his situation by diamonding the track. If the car is loose in the middle or on the exit he can try a higher line. Loose entry is just a bad deal. Never allow your car to suffer through a race with a loose entry condition.
Below are some tips on how you can make changes to your car. Like all general statements real world track conditions can contradict what is listed below. Proper context must prevail.
The information might allow you to speed up your own learning curve through your actual track testing and race experience. Further, these tips better apply to asphalt stock cars that are built by a major manufacturer that run on tracks 1 mile and under. All information assumes that the car has the proper parts installed and that the rear end is square. The simplest way to go fast is to insure that all four wheels are pointing in the same direction.
Suggestions are listed in order of priority. Keep in mind that the order can vary drastically depending on the many variables faced and differing track conditions. Tip: Fix it!!!
Never start a race with this condition! A loose everywhere car will be very hard to drive. Driver adjustments will be of very little help. There is little benefit from small changes with this condition.
Stay with changes that make a significant difference. A tight everywhere car will not be hard to drive but will be slow. One particularly common case, is when there is a bit of understeer tight during corner entry at sharp corners. This case can have several reasons:. As stated before, loose entry is one of the worst kinds of cornering problems.
Curing loose entry conditions is a high priority item. Here are some things to try:. Tip: Work on it!!! Sometimes gets worse and progresses to a push in the middle but driver can usually make some driving adjustments. Tip: Fix it. Depending on severity can get worse. Driver can make limited driving adjustments.
At some tracks this condition can come to you in the long run. However only experience can tell you if this would be a safe gamble. Usually gets worse. Driver can make limited adjustments. This situation works well with inexperienced drivers.
Hard to drive and usually gets worse. Not recommended for the inexperienced driver. Many times an excellent place to start a long race. Experience dictates if this is a good gamble. Easy to drive. Usually frees up as the tires wear. Not a good set up for the inexperienced driver. Be aware that some times cars don't seem to follow the rules. You can get conditions that contradict the rules. Generally, you see this condition when you have gone to extremes with adjustments.
If you get outside the range with your adjustments many things can happen to confuse the issue. When your car does not seem to get around the turns right you should first have a look at any adjustments that are to an extreme compared to what your car builder recommends or from what you have learned from your own experiences.
The soft push occurs when you get below the spring rate that holds the front end up. The suspension runs through its full travel too quickly and in effect bottoms out as the car enters the turn. What if you are already too soft? Make small adjustments, about one half of one percent. This will help keep your ride heights in the ballpark. After you get the cross weight where you want it, adjust the ride heights.
You need to keep the ride heights as close as possible to where they were before you started. You can then make fine adjustments with the sway bar preload if desired. If the car is tight under throttle, or driving off the left rear, invert the spring perch offset adjustment procedure above. I have found that these are the best ways to adjust iRacing setups to suit your driving style, or to handle better under different temperature conditions. This guide was awesome! Thanks a lot for making it.
I was also wondering, are there any tricks you have to make your tires wear slower without damaging speed. When you enter the corner you are going to slow down. In order to slow you must lose kinetic energy. I have little experience on dirt but can definetely notice this!
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